Crime & Safety

UPDATE: Missing San Anselmo Teen Returns Home

A Drake High School freshman was last seen Friday in San Anselmo. She is considered a runaway and word of her absence has been spreading quickly on social media.

UPDATE, 11:35 a.m., Sept. 11: Jennie Campana wrote on Facebook early Wednesday morning that her daughter has returned home and is safe. Calls and e-mails Patch sent to the teen's parents seeking confirmation were not immediately returned. 

UPDATE: 2:08 p.m., Sept. 11: Travis Groeber, step-father of the teen, wrote in an e-mail to Patch that the teen was found in Petaluma and they picked her up in Novato at 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning. 

UPDATE: 3:39 p.m., Sept. 11: Campana confirmed with Patch that her daughter is home. She said the police got a tip that her daughter was seen with a 20-year-old man in Petaluma. Police officials then found the teen sleeping inside the Petaluma home of the man and took her into custody until her parents picked her up in Novato. 

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Original article posted on Wednesday, September 10, 2013 at 08:36 PM:

Jennie Campana hasn’t been able to sleep since last Friday.

Find out what's happening in San Anselmo-Fairfaxwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Friday, Sept. 6, was the last time she saw her 14-year-old teen, a Drake High School freshman, before she went missing.

It didn’t take long for the word of the missing teen to spread like wildfire on social media. 

A photo that was posted early Monday morning of the teen had amassed more than 3,328 shares by Tuesday evening. A flyer the family made that Campana posted to her Facebook page late Monday night had also been shared more than 1,400 times by Tuesday evening.

Officials with the Central Marin Police Authority haven’t provided much information about the missing teen, Abigail Campana, because she is “voluntarily missing” — or a runaway.

Campana said that on Monday that she heard her daughter had contacted a close friend in Petaluma — calling via a blocked phone number — to tell the friend she was safe but “not ready to come home yet.”

While it was reassuring to hear her daughter might be safe, it hasn’t helped what has been a very dark time for the family, Campana said.

“I’m terrified most of the time,” she told Patch. “Knowing that she’s doing this on purpose … it’s hurtful. It’s a lot of sleepless nights.”

Campana said if anyone knows more about the whereabouts of Campana, who might be in Marin, Sonoma County or San Francisco, they should come forward and contact the Central Marin Police Authority (415-927-5150).

“Keeping her secret isn’t helping Abbie,” Campana said. “We’re scared. Nobody can rest until they know where she is. It is just getting worse.”

Campana started at White Hill Middle School in seventh grade. The family used to live in Petaluma and then briefly Terra Linda in San Rafael.

“[Abbie] has a history in Petaluma, we used to live there and she used to go to school there and still has connections there,” Campana said. “That is where she tends to go when she’s upset. That’s her home base.”

Abigail appeared to have updated her Facebook profile the day before she went missing. A photo of her holding cash with a caption of “yea this weekend will be good” was posted to her profile on Sept. 5.

If anyone sees Abigail, they should call the local police for the jurisdiction they are in. 


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